feliz Navidad

Hooray!!!  We lived through the end of the world, at least here in Mexico.  How are you guys?  Still there?

We sure hope you're all good there at home too.    Actually, we know better as you can clearly see in this shot of our backyard in Grants Pass........it may seem like the end of the world to those who need to do a little more shopping.

This is our backyard here in La Paz.  Any questions about why we're here?







And, it looks like we'll stay here this season too.  Our friends on Gitana and Sea Boa left for the mainland a couple days ago - in fact they're probably going to reach Isla Isabella tomorrow AM - and we chose not to go along this time.  Not an easy decision, as we've been planning to see Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta this season for some time now.  But, when it was all said and done, neither of us wanted to go all that badly.  Instead, we're going to hang out here where we are very comfortable and life is good and get going on some boat projects.  We have done our share of boat work, but so far, none of it has been cosmetic.  So now we have time to do the varnishing and painting and such that has been neglected.  And hang with friends here in La Paz. 

That being said, it looks like we'll be picking up the anchor tomorrow morning - Christmas eve.  We'll sail to the islands with many anchorages about 25 miles from here to spend 4 or 5 days with friends on Hanali and Solmate.  Hoping to get some good photos to share.  For now, here are some shots from around La Paz.

Dockbird



Where do you suppose the richest man in the world
keeps his boat?

Sunday shopping in La Paz

More shopping

This is the Malecon on a quiet Sunday afternoon.  It's a miles long boardwalk of hand laid tile at the waters edge.  With artwork and resting places, restaraunts and vendors of all sorts, the malecon is a gathering place as well as a thoroughfare.


The main North South road through the City runs alongside, and parades and celebrations happen here most any time of day or night.

How did they do that?

During Carnival in February, the street is loaded with rides and vendors and games for a couple miles.  Good times, but that's another story




So here's wishing all of you the very best of the season and more fun next year.

San Carlos to La Paz

Yes, you're right of course.  This isn't a sunrise.  It's a sunset.  Just thought you might like to see what it's like here right now......at anchor in La Paz harbor at about 1700 on Sunday.  We'll get to sunrise later.






It was a great trip from San Carlos, but talk about two different worlds. 

We travelled about 260 miles over 11 days, saw friends and some favorite anchorages, had better than average weather, spectacular scenery, fresh dorado til we tired of it, and happy hour most every day at 4:30.  And, except for two days in Puerto Escondido, our feet never touched concrete.  There was no television, mainstream media, cell phones, internet, or any kind of advertising either.  I'll bet most of you have never experienced this kind of disconnect, but you can take my word for it, it's good.  Sorry you missed it.

Then, four days ago, we dropped our hook in La Paz.  We love La Paz, but it's been an almost complete opposite so far.  As you can see above, the scenery is still pretty fine, but most everything else is changed.  As we have projects to complete and no car here, we do a lot of walking.  Still no cell phones, but we have TV on board - all in Spanish of course, but saw the Marquez fight Saturday night and the Packers last night.  The advertising is in Spanish, so of little consequence, but no mainstream media. What a joy!  Thanks to a long walk on Saturday, we now have internet.  That means we can email and update this blog when time permits.  So, as the projects are getting completed, we will return to a much more easygoing pace for the rest of our stay here - probably about another week.

This is what going "uphill" looks like.  It feels about the way it looks too.  Crash, slam, spray.

And this is "downhill", which is mostly what we did last week.  Feels a lot like being in a rocking chair.  Much mo betta than the other.

Sunrise at Puerto Escondido.

As nice as these photos may look, they represent about 20% of the real thing.  I just haven't learned how to get it all into the lens.   I should mention though, that you can double click on these pics to make them bigger if you want.

Sunrise at San Evaristo.

Here's a shot of IRIE at anchor in a place called Candeleros.  Just behind us - already there when we pulled in - is s/v Ballena with friend Dario aboard.  You may recall that we talked about buying Ballena a few years ago.  That was before we saw IRIE of course.  What a nice surprise to see them both!

This one is my personal favorite - 

A moonrise sunset off the bow with s/v Gitana in the background.  This boat is the magic carpet for our friends Greg and Janis who have offered to show us the ropes of cruising the mainland of Mexico in the area of Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan.  C and I are still weighing in on that trip as there are several overnights, rolly anchorages and other yet to be experienced discomforts, and then quite a bit of "uphill" sailing to do  in order to return.  We'll see......        But right now, it's happy hour, so........................hugs to all.     E